A typical access network has a structure like a “fat tree” where each terminal relays traffic towards customer endpoint devices from another terminal of the same or higher level. For example, terminals located closer to a core backbone network carry traffic to/from more customers as compared to terminals located closer to customer locations. This is because traffic to/from a large number of customers is aggregated for the purpose of sharing the network metro and core infrastructures.
With economic constraints and limited routing capabilities in the access networks, network service providers have developed redundant network designs only for core and metro portions of the network infrastructure. For example, the core and metro portions of the network infrastructure may include mesh or ring network topologies for increased survivability. However, the traffic volume in the access networks continues to grow. For example, customers are using the internet for ever increasing amount of voice, data and video traffic. The lack of redundancy in the access network may become a bottleneck for improving the end-to-end survivability.